NHL, NHLPA happy with progress being made in CBA talks

EDMONTON, Alberta — NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said Wednesday that collective bargaining talks with the players have been “constructive, professional and cordial,” but there was no announcement of a new deal ahead of the Stanley Cup Final.

“We started a little bit later than we had anticipated for a variety of reasons on both sides, so I don’t have an announcement to make today that we have a deal,” Bettman said hours before Game 1 between the Florida Panthers and the Edmonton Oilers. “We have more than a year to go, and I think we’re in a really good place in terms of our relationship.”

The current CBA expires Sept. 15, 2026. The two sides didn’t start in-depth negotiations until April. Bettman said earlier this year that an agreement could come prior to the Cup Final.

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Marty Walsh, executive director of the NHL Players’ Association, said the two sides are having “a good, ongoing conversation” but declined to specify when an agreement could be done.

“It gets complicated at certain times in any collective bargaining agreement,” Walsh said.

Among the issues being discussed in the next CBA is the use of long-term injured reserve as a salary cap workaround. Ron Hainsey, NHLPA assistant executive director, said it’s “an issue that the league has made a priority for them” in talks.

One issue that won’t be addressed in the next CBA is the state income tax advantages that teams like the Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Dallas Stars and Vegas Golden Knights have over other teams, particularly those in Canada.

“These imbalances have existed forever,” NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said. “There’s nothing new here. There are so many reasons why a player can choose to play in a particular location for a particular team that have nothing to do with the tax situation in that market. So I don’t expect it’s anything we’re going to address proactively as part of this collective bargaining negotiation.”

The NHL’s state of the league news conference Wednesday also touched on the potential expansion to 34 teams in the near future.

Daly said the league has decided not to formally open up its expansion process but is accepting applications.

“Look, we’ve gotten a lot of interest from people and markets who want to host NHL teams,” he said. “We take a lot of meetings about them. We’ve decided we’re not going to engage in formal expansion process, but somebody wants to essentially apply for an expansion franchise and has all the requisite elements that we would look for in an expansion franchise, we would raise it with the board of governors to see if they have any interest in it.

“There are some people we’ve talked to more than others, but there’s a lot of interest, which I think we’re gratified by.”

Houston and Atlanta have been heavily speculated as potential NHL expansion cities.